Writing aid for the blind



July 31, 1951 J c, SPIKES 2,562,479

WRITING AID FOR THE BLIND Filed Jan. 5. 1949 3, I "a II w"lllllllul;;lillllllllla INVENTOR. JGHM cum? $PIKE$ I y WW;

ATTRNEV Patented July 31, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT FF ICE 11 Claims.

This invention relates to a, writing aid and more particularly to an aid adapted for use the blind. The apparatus of the invention possesses many featurescand advantages. which are not found in existing writing aids'which .make it. easier for a blind person to use and at. the same time brings about more legible writing.

In accordance with. the invention I provide a platen upon which a sheet. of writing paper, envelope or the like, is clamped and a guide slidablev on the platen above the sheet. The guide is provided with an elongated rectangular opening definin a. left hand margin and extendin to a adjacent the. pposite sideof the platen. Two spring loaded bars mounted on the guide overlap the top and bottom of the opening when in their normal position and are slidable on the guide so that they may be pushed back to the upper and lower edges of the opening.

The invention w l b more l a y unde o d from reference to the following detailed description, thereof taken in conjunction with the accompany-mg drawing in which:

Fig. .1 is. a plan View of the writing aid of. the invention showing its manner of; use;

Fig. 2, a sectional elevation. takenon line'2-2 of Fig. 1.; and

Fig. 3 is an elevation, partially in section, of, the guide member. I

Referring to the, drawings the writing aid'of the. invention comprises. a platen l0 having depending. legs ll, 1 2, I 3, i l. at. the, fpnr corners thereof. A rib It extends across the. upper edge of the platen. and connects with ribs ltd, 515 extending along the. opposite side edges. The ribs 16A,. B,, have. grooves .18 formed therein which extend from a point adjacent: the top. of the. platen to a point adjacent the bottom-oi the platen. Each. oi the rooves; El, i8.- is pro.- vided. with a plurality of holes I9... 2 24. etc... and 2 2; 23., 24, etc., respectively. The, seyeralrhoies in the opposite grooves are in a. line with; each other on a line parallel to the inner edge of rib l6. Thus the holes in and 2.2- are aligned. the holes. 20 and 23. are. aligned and so on. A spring clamp 2:6; is. afiixed to. the platen. in the center of the upper edge and includes a. rib 2'! bearing against the platen below the rib It. The spring clamp 26- is used to hold a piece ofpaper, an envelope or the like, on the platen in the area de'.' fined by the rib It; ISA, 1613. A fifth leg I5 is conveniently depended from the upper edge of the clamp to prevent: the platen from up-endmg when the clamp is operated.

'-A guide 30- rests on the platen and is. provided with depending lugs 32 33, projecting into grooves l'l, l8 respectively to engage in opposite aligned holes therein. To simplify placement of the guide the ends of the grooves may be. tapered or cupped as illustrated.

The guide .38 comprises a rectangular frame.-

work 33 extending beyond opposite edges of the.

platen. iii, and having an elongated rectangular opening 3?. extending from a point. spaced in-v wardly frorn'the rib lG'A to a point adjacent the rib I613. The left hand edge of the opening 31 defines a left hand margin for writing. An up. per bar 38. and a lower bar 39 are. slidably held on'the framework 36 by rivets 48;, 4|, affixed to the framework and projecting through grooves 52, 33, respectively in the upper bar and rivets 45, 4t, affixed tothe framework andprojectingthmugh grooves 41, 48, respectively in the lowerbar. The cross bars 38, 39 are connected by springs 55%}, 5| at opposite ends of the opening 31.

When both springs 58, 5.! are retracted i. e. in the rest position, the upper and lower cross bars. overlap substantially equal areas of the top and. bottom of the opening 3.! so that only a relatively narrow slit, approximately one-third the width of the opening remains between the cross bars, The upper cross bar 38 is. provided with an up wardly' extending flange 54' along its upper edge. which has an elongated slot 56 therein. A mar-. gin guide 5'! is mounted to the flange 54 by a. screw 58 passing through the slot 5:3 and provided with a knurlednut 59 whereby it may be tight.

ened or loosened to permit adjustment of the margin guide 5?; along the slot 56. The margin guide extends transversely across the openingfll' acting as stop for any writing instrument, as for. example pencil 68, extending; through the open-- In using the apparatus of the invention, a sheet: of paper or the like, is inserted under the rib 21* of the clip 26 and lies in, the bed defined by the ribs. l6, 16A, IGB. In inserting the paper it is. urged against the, lower edge ofthe rib l6 and against the inner edge of the rib 16A. With the paper lying against the ribs l6, [6A, the guide 30 automatically insures that writing across the paper is in straight lines parallel to the upper. edge of the paper and evenly spaced from top to bottom. With the. guidev 36 mounted on the platen in opposite aligned holes in. the grooves IT, l8, as shown in Fig. 1, for. example, one may.

write. as follows:

A writing instrument; such as the pencil 60,. inserted in the slot defined by the cross bars. 38",; 39 and urged against thev left handjedge of the:

opening 3'! so that each successive line will be on the same left margin. As the writing progresses, for example, the word and the a and "11. are defined within the space between the cross bars 38, 39, with both springs in the retracted position as assumed by spring 5| in Fig. 1. To make the letter d which extends above the tops of the a and n, the pencil is pushed against the upper cross bar 38 with sufiicient force to extend the spring 50 or the spring 5| depending upon the lateral position of the pencil across the paper so that the top of the d is defined by the upper edge of the opening 31. To form a g for example, which extends below the line of writing, the pencil is pushed against the lower cross bar 39 with sufiicient force to extend either spring 50 or 5| so that the bottom of the loop of the y will be defined by the lower edge of the opening 31. In similar fashion to make an i which extends both above and below an a or at, for example, the pencil is first pushed against the upper cross bar 38 to extend the spring 50 or 5| to make the upper loop of the f and is then pushed against the lower cross bar similarly to extend one of the springs to make the lower loop of the I.

With very little practice even a blind person can write very legibly with the apparatus of the invention which insures that all the lines will be parallel to each other, that they will be evenly spaced and that the letters will be evenly defined across the paper. The result is a very neat and precise hand writing.

As mentioned above, the left hand margin of any written material will be determined by the left hand edge of the opening 31. This margin is fixed and the length of the written line is determined by the guide 51 which establishes the right hand margin of the writing. This is adjustable from a point adjacent the right hand edge of the platen to a point approaching the left hand margin 37. The adjustability of the guide 51 is determined by the length of the slot 56 in flange 54. The holes I9, 20, 2|, etc. in groove I1 and similar holes 22, 23, 24 etc. in the groove I8 may be spaced from each other any desired distance provided only that corresponding holes in each groove, say holes t9 and 22 are in a line parallel to the lower edge of rib I6. This is not necessary but is desirable to insure that the writing is straight on the paper.

The legs II, I2, I3, I4, I5 are not necessary elements of the invention but are preferred since it is desirable that the platen I0 be held a short distance above the table top or whatever surface it is resting on so that it may be easily moved and gripped by the hand. The ribs I5, ISA, I6B may be formed integrally with the platen and with each other by a casting or molding process depending upon whether the device is made of metal or plastic. Alternatively the ribs I6, IGA,

IGB may be separately aflixed on the platen. These and many other modifications may be made in the invention without departing from the scope thereof as defined in the foregoing description and the following claims.

I claim:

1. A writing aid comprising a platen, a guide resting on the platen and adjustable thereon from top to bottom parallel to the upper edge of the platen and having an elongated opening extending substantially from edge to edge of the platen, first means slidably affixedto the guide and overlapping the upper edgeof said el0n-,.

gated opening and second means slidably aflixed to the guide and overlapping the lower edge of said elongated opening, the first and second means being independently slidable on said guide transversely of its longitudinal axis.

2. A writing aid comprising a platen, a guide resting on the platen and adjustable thereon from top to bottom parallel to the upper edge of the platen and having an elongated opening extending substantially from edge to edge of the platen, a pair of fiat bars slidably mounted on the guide adjacent the upper and lower edges of said opening, and spring means connecting said bars to urge them together so as to overlap the upper and lower edges of the opening.

3. A writing aid comprising a platen having parallel grooves extending along opposite side edges thereof, a plurality of evenly spaced holes in the bottom of each of said grooves with successive holes in the two grooves being on a line parallel to the upper edge of the platen, a guide resting on the platen and extending from side to side thereof, a separate lug depending from opposite ends of the guide and adapted to fit into the holes in the opposite grooves, said guide having an elongated rectangular opening ex-. tending across the platen and through which access may be had to the face of the platen, and means overlapping the upper and lower edges of the opening and independently slidable away from the opening.

4. A writing aid comprising a platen having parallel grooves extending along opposite side edges thereof, a plurality of evenly spaced holes in the bottom of each of said grooves with successive holes in the two grooves being on a line parallel to the upper edge of the platen, a guide resting on the platen and extending from side to side thereof, a separate lug depending from opposite ends of the guide and adapted to fit into the holes in the opposite grooves, said guide having an elongated rectangular opening extending across the platen and giving access to the platen through the guide, and a pair of fiat bars mounted on the guide so as to overlap the opposite longitudinal edges of said opening to define an opening restricted in width, the bars being independently slidable on the guide transverse to the longitudinal axis of said opening.

5. A writing air comprising a platen having parallel grooves extending along opposite side edges thereof, a plurality of evenly spaced holes in the bottom of each of said grooves with successive holes in the two grooves being on a line parallel to the upper edge of the platen, a guide resting on the platen and extending from side to side thereof, a separate lug depending from opposite ends of the guide and adapted to fit into the holes in the opposite grooves, said guide having an elongated rectangular opening extending across the platen and through which access may be had to the face of the platen, a pair of fiat bars mounted on the guide so as to overlap the opposite longitudinal edges of said opening to define an opening restricted in width the bars being independently slidable on the guide transverse to the longitudinal axis of said opening, and a pair of springs joining opposite ends of said bars to urge the bars toward the center of the opening.

6. A writing aid comprising a platen having parallel grooves extending along opposite side edges thereof, a plurality of evenly spaced holes in the bottom of each of said grooves with suc,- cessive holes in thetwo grooves being on a line parallel to the upper edge of the platen, a guide resting on the platen and extending from side to side thereof, a separate lug depending from opposite ends of the guide and adapted to fit into the holes in the opposite grooves, said guide having an elongated rectangular opening extending across the platen and through which access may be had to the face of the platen, a pair of flat bars mounted on the guide so as to overlap the opposite longitudinal edges of said opening to define an opening restricted in width and independently slidable on the guide transverse to the longitudinal axis of said opening, a pair of springs joining opposite ends of said bars to urge the bars toward the center of the opening, a means for holding on the platen beneath the guide an object upon which it is desired to write.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein the elongated opening extends from a point spaced inwardly from the left hand side of the platen so as to establish a left hand margin for writing accomplished through the opening.

8. A writing aid comprising a platen having raised ribs extending along the side edges thereof, an elongated groove in each of the ribs, a plurality of evenly spaced holes in the bottom of each of said grooves with successive holes in the two grooves being on a line parallel to the upper edge of the platen, a guide extending from side to side of the platen and resting on said ribs, a separate lug depending from opposite ends of the guide and adapted to engage in the respective grooves to orient adjustment of the guide on the platen and to fit into the holes in the opposite grooves, said guide having an elongated rectangular opening extending across the platen and through which access may be had to the face of the platen, a pair of fiat bars mounted on the guide so as to overlap the opposite longitudinal edges respectively of said opening to define an opening restricted in width, the bars being independently slidable on the guide transverse to the longitudinal axis of said opening, and a pair of springs joining opposite ends of said bars to urge the bars toward the center of the opening.

9. A writing aid comprising a platen having raised side ribs extending along the side edges thereof, an elongated groove in each of the ribs, a plurality of evenly spaced holes in the bottom of each of said grooves, means aflixed to the platen for removably holding thereon an object to be written 'on, a guide extending from side to side of the platen and resting on said ribs, a separate lug depending from opposite ends of the guide and adaptedto fit in the holes in the opposite grooves, said guide having an elongated rectangular opening extending across the platen and through which access may be had to the face of the platen, upper and lower fiat bars mounted on the guide so as to overlap the opposite longitudinal edges of said opening to define an opening restricted in width and slidable on the guide transverse to the axis of said opening, a pair of springs joining opposite ends of said bars to urge the bars toward the center 01' the opening, adjustablemeans for defining the right hand margin of writing accomplished through the opening, and means for squaring said object on the platen with respect to the opening.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9 wherein the upper fiat bar has a slotted bracket extending upwardly therefrom and the adjustable means for defining the right hand margin comprises a stop adjustably mounted to the bracket through the groove therein and projecting transversely across the opening.

11. Apparatus according to claim 9 wherein the means for squaring said object on the platen comprises a raised upper rib extending across the platen adjacent the upper edge thereof, the inner edge of the upper rib being parallel to lines drawn between succssive holes in the two grooves and perpendicular to the inner edge of the left side rib.

JOHN CURRY SPIKES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number I Name Date 553,504 Bennett Jan. 28, 1896 579,183 Schaller Mar. 23, 1897 589,955 Black Sept. 14, 1897 760,211 Jones May 17, 1904 842,144 Gee Jan. 22, 1907 1,019,789 Heiskell Mar. 12, 1912 1,293,023 Bryan et al. Feb. 4, 1919 2,034,350 Mario Mar. 17, 1936 

